Endoscopy, and especially laparoscopic endoscopy, has been a rapidly growing surgical practice in the past decades. Accessing the patient's laparoscopic cavity is typically done via holes, usually punctured with a sharp element referred to as a trocar. In order to penetrate the patient's laparoscopic cavity, the trocar is placed into a tubular element referred to as a cannula, such that the sharp end of the trocar is protruding from the cannula's distal end. The trocar end, when sharp, may puncture the abdominal wall. When a trocar is used, an initial incision to the patient's skin is typically required. Once the cavity has been penetrated by the trocar, it can be withdrawn and various surgical instruments may then be introduced through the cannula and into the cavity.
Surgical trocars are most commonly a single patient use instrument, although there is greater interest in developing reposable (i.e., suitable for a relatively low number of surgical uses) and reusable (i.e., suitable for a relatively high number of surgical uses) trocars that can be appropriately sterilized again and again for use with multiple numbers of patients. Furthermore, modern trocars have graduated from the classical “three point” design that gave them their name, to either a flat bladed “dilating-tip” product, or something that is entirely blade free.
However, there exists a need for new and improved reusable trocars, and methods for making the same, that overcome at least one of the aforementioned disadvantages.